If I use some car model in my game (like Audi or Renault or ...), do I need permission from factory which actually manifacture that car model. How about other stuff like planes, tanks, buildings,...? Denis

Tanks and buildings, no you don''t ned permision, but you need permission from car manufacturers to use there car models.

I believe that you can use the likeness, but you can''t use the name. As in GTA, Vice City; most of the cars you could identify, but they had created names.

Take another at GTA - the likenesses have been altered, too. They''re also protected by trademark.

I worked on a snowmobiling game where we discovered that a particular color on a snowmobile was ALSO trademarked. So we had to change the color, on demand from the manufacturer''s lawyers.

quote: Original post by Jay Barnson
I worked on a snowmobiling game where we discovered that a particular color on a snowmobile was ALSO trademarked.

They can trademark colours? Seriously? Wow. Don''t really know what to say about that.

Do you have the RGB code of that colour? I''d like to see it with my own eyes

Wow, so that means I can copyright white cars - I''ll make millions!

I doubt they can trademark a snow-mobile color, but they of course can sick lawyers on you who say they trademarked a color.

They might be able to trademark a particular design painted onto a snowmobile in a particular colour and argue that your version is so close that it might confuse customers (often refered to as "passing off").

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

And Dan wins the prize. Their argument was that a snowmobile of that particular color was part of their trademark. We weren''t about to fight them over it.

As to a white car... you couldn''t do it, it''s too generic now. But if you came up with a unique color or pattern of colors for your car company, and people identified cars of that particular color with your company, then yes... you COULD trademark it.